Gymnast’s visit inspires local children

Pupils and staff at Duncombe School, Bengeo, gasped as Olympic hopeful Danny Lawrence gave a breathtaking display of gymnastics at the school recently.

His visit was arranged with the organisation Sport for Schools as part of the 2012 Inspirational Campaign. The campaign’s mission is to inspire 2,012 children to enrol in sports clubs throughout the UK in the build up to the London Olympics.

Danny encouraged all the Duncombe children to keep fit and with his coach, Paul, led every year group in a series of gymnastic exercises. He then displayed his own talent by performing cartwheels, somersaults and other gymnastic manoeuvres before answering lots of questions in a special assembly.

Danny explained to the pupils how he began gymnastics at the age of 9 and now trains 30 hours a week on top of his job as a Firefighter. Danny has represented Great Britain at three World Championships and his next big event is the Commonwealth Games in 2010, followed, of course, by the London Olympics in 2012.

Head of Boys’ Sport, John Ferguson, who set up Danny's visit, said:

"The children were genuinely inspired by Danny and his commitment to his sport. Watching someone so talented at such close quarters was an amazing experience for them."